A Life Extraordinary

Refusing to let a rare disease define her, Rashmirekha Bhuyan has made a mark as a novelist. Prasanta Mazumdar delves into her inspiring journey

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RASHMIREKHA Bhuyan knew at an early age that eventually the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) would confine her to the wheelchair, but she used it as a launchpad to let her imagination soar to the universe of print and be counted among the authors of substance. Her infectious positivity and clarity of ideas are benefiting the students of Khanaguri Government Senior Basic School, Sootea of northern Assam where she teaches.

The 39-year-old says she got a perfect ambience at home from childhood. Her parents, both retired schoolteachers, would push her to express her thoughts and imaginations through literary works, so what started as writing articles for Assamese dailies, weeklies and magazines, ended up in novels.

"Meghe Dhoka Akaxor Joon", the first of her four novels, hit the stands in 2013.

It was initially published in an Assamese daily as a series. Subsequently, she penned "Jeeban Beenar Sur" (2016), "Gigolo" (2018) and "Mati Ishwar" (2023). In 2017, she came up with a collection of short stories "Ejani Beshyar Aatmakatha".